A intelligent backhaul system is disclosed to manage and control multiple intelligent backhaul radios within a geographic zone. The intelligent backhaul system includes multiple intelligent backhaul radios (IBRs) that are able to function in both obstructed and unobstructed line of sight propagation conditions, one or more intelligent backhaul controllers (IBCs) connecting the IBRs with other network elements, and an intelligent backhaul management system (IBMS). The IBMS may include a private and/or public server and/or agents in one or more IBRs or IBCs.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A method for deploying a first backhaul radio for communicating with one or more second backhaul radios, wherein the first backhaul radio comprises an antenna array comprising at least a plurality of directive gain antenna elements and at least a backhaul management system agent, said method comprising: determining by the backhaul management system agent at the first backhaul radio a favored one of the one or more second backhaul radios; associating the first backhaul radio via a first wireless link with the favored one of the one or more second backhaul radios; processing, by the backhaul management system agent, signals transmitted or received via at least one of the plurality of directive gain antenna elements based at least upon one or more operational parameters of the first wireless link; wherein the one or more operational parameters comprises one or more of: a link quality metric; a link performance metric; an operational statistic; a resource selection; a timing parameter; a measured interference level; an internal topology characteristic; an access control setting; a multi-interface switching selection between transmitted and received data; or combinations thereof.
2. The method of claim 1 , said method further comprising: determining a favored RF spectrum resource selection by the backhaul management system agent from at least RF spectrum information; and adjusting at least one RF spectrum resource selection for the first wireless link based at least upon the RF spectrum information; wherein the RF spectrum information comprises one or more of: a particular channel frequency; a sub-band of channel frequencies; a channel bandwidth; an antenna element selection; an antenna radiation orientation; a maximum transmit power level; or combinations thereof.
3. The method of claim 1 , said method further comprising: determining a favored timing parameter setting by the backhaul management system agent; and adjusting at least one timing parameter setting for the first wireless link based at least upon the timing information; wherein the timing information comprises one or more of: a superframe timing offset relative to a global timing reference; a superframe timing offset relative to a local timing reference; an uplink duty cycle; a downlink duty cycle; or combinations thereof.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first backhaul radio performs a network discovery process upon deployment of the first backhaul radio.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the backhaul management system agent acts as a topology coordinator determining the association information based at least upon one or more of: reported traffic flows; reported link performance metrics; instant interference and RF spectrum coordination considerations; desired redundancy, fail-over or load balancing goals; applicable service level agreement (SLA) requirements; or combinations thereof.
6. The method of claim 2 , wherein the backhaul management system agent acts as an RF spectrum coordinator.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the backhaul management system agent determines the RF spectrum information based at least upon one or more of: measured interference levels; interference cancellation capabilities; antenna element selections or radiation orientations; simulated propagation effects; traffic conditions; applicable service level agreement (SLA) requirements; or combinations thereof.
8. The method of claim 3 , wherein the backhaul management system agent acts as a superframe timing coordinator.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the backhaul management system agent determines the timing information based at least upon one or more of: reported traffic flows; reported link performance metrics; instant interference and RF spectrum coordination considerations; desired redundancy, fail-over or load balancing goals; measured interference levels; interference cancellation capabilities; antenna element selections or radiation orientations; simulated propagation effects; applicable service level agreement (SLA) requirements; or combinations thereof.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the associating via the first wireless link involves at least an exchange of management frames with the favored one of the one or more second backhaul radios.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the exchange of management frames includes at least an association request.
12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the association information includes at least an identifier of the favored one of the one or more second backhaul radios.
13. The method of claim 12 , wherein the identifier is a MAC address.
14. The method of claim 1 , wherein the association information includes at least an indicator of whether the first backhaul radio should favor operation as an aggregation-end (AE) backhaul radio or as a remote-end (RE) backhaul radio.
15. The method of claim 1 , wherein the processing of signals comprises one or more signal processing techniques from amongst: Multiple-Input, Multiple-Output (MIMO); MIMO Spatial Multiplexing (MIMO-SM); beamforming (BF); maximal ratio combining (MRC); Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA); cross-polarization modulation or demodulation; dual-polarization modulation or demodulation; frequency selective channel equalization; or combinations thereof.
16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless link utilizes time division duplexing (TDD).
17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first wireless link utilizes frequency division duplexing (FDD).
18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the link quality metric is derived from one or more of: a bit error rate; a frame error rate: a frame check sum (FCS) failure rate; a block error detection; a block error correction; or combinations thereof.
19. The method of claim 1 , wherein the link performance metric is derived from one or more of: a signal to noise ratio (SNR); a signal to noise and interference ratio (SINR); a receive signal strength indicator (RSSI) value; a decoder metric; a channel equalization metric; a throughput; or combinations thereof.
20. The method of claim 1 , wherein the operational statistic is derived from one or more of: a bit error rate; a frame error rate: a frame check sum (FCS) failure rate; a block error detection; a block error correction; a signal to noise ratio (SNR); a signal to noise and interference ratio (SINR); a receive signal strength indicator (RSSI) value; a decoder metric; a channel equalization metric; a throughput; a number of active sessions; a list of connected device identifiers; a list of MAC addresses; a packet count associated with a particular MAC address or physical port; a packet error rate; a transfer rate; a latency; a link availability status for a port; a power consumption for a port; a channel frequency; a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) index; a transmit power control (TPC) value; a superframe timing parameter; an observed interferer; a location; an antenna configuration or orientation; or combinations thereof.
21. The method of claim 1 , wherein the resource selection is derived from one or more of: a particular channel frequency; a sub-band of channel frequencies; a channel bandwidth; an antenna element selection; an antenna radiation orientation; a maximum transmit power level; a multi-interface data switching input; or combinations thereof.
22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the timing parameter is derived from one or more of: a superframe timing offset; an uplink duty cycle; a downlink duty cycle; or combinations thereof.
23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the measured interference level is derived from one or more of: an RF channel frequency; a channel bandwidth; a signature detection; a detection of a radar system; a detection of a conventional point to point microwave system; a detection of one or more third backhaul radios; or combinations thereof.
24. The method of claim 1 , wherein the internal topology characteristic is derived from one or more of: a VLAN port mapping; an MPLS routing path; a distribution of traffic to redundant wireless links; or combinations thereof.
25. The method of claim 1 , wherein the access control setting is derived from one or more of: an IEEE 802.1X parameter; a security key management policy; an encryption key; a link identifier; an encryption indicator; or combinations thereof.
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December 9, 2015
September 22, 2020
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